Congratulations to AGeoJO for winning Feature Thread of the Week with 3 votes - View Previous Winners
Based on the circling vultures overhead, our guide suspected that there was a kill. We rushed to the location and indeed, we saw a female leopard drag a dead male impala. Just a short time later, we also noticed that a spotted hyena got the “wind” of a kill. The female leopard knew of the presence of the hyena and she tried to drag the carcass up a tree but somehow it got snagged. We rooted for the leopard but at the end, the hyena was able to snatch her meal away from her…
We couldn’t actually see the actual snatching process as it happened behind the tree and the vegetation around was fairly thick. But shortly after, we saw the hyena drag the meal out to a more open area and started the feast. Before too long a second hyena showed up and joined the smorgasbord. We could hear the eerie sound of bone being crunched. From time to time they hyenas looked around to monitor the surrounding. They gulped down as much and as fast as they could but after a while, even they slowed down and started to walk away albeit reluctantly carrying their bulging tummies.
The leopard that waited nearby behind some bushes took advantage of the opportunity. As soon as she felt safe, she made a mad dash to the carcass, took off and climbed up a tree. Now, it is her turn yet again to enjoy the kill or whatever was left.
Thank you for stopping by. Please feel free to leave any feedback,
Joshua
Absolutely spectacular Joshua ! I've been anxious to see what someone with your skill and expertise would harvest from such an environment. You didn't disappoint I could tell these were yours without even seeing the name. Great shots !
gary
Incredible images Joshua. Loved the description of the action, it made viewing these images that much better. The hyena shots gave me goosebumps. I loved every one of these shots. Fantastic work !
sum1sgrampa wrote:
Absolutely spectacular Joshua ! I've been anxious to see what someone with your skill and expertise would harvest from such an environment. You didn't disappoint I could tell these were yours without even seeing the name. Great shots !
gary
G.E. Smith wrote:
Incredible images Joshua. Loved the description of the action, it made viewing these images that much better. The hyena shots gave me goosebumps. I loved every one of these shots. Fantastic work !
Greg
Greg, thank you for stopping by and for your kind comment. They are early hyena images that looked gory and I decided not to include them. Hyenas are opportunists and they are successful in playing that role. I am not a fan of hyenas, not sure who is, but at a different location/time, we encountered a hyena mom and two of her puppies. While young they can still be considered “cute”, well, to a certain degree.
AGeoJO wrote:
Thank you very much, agvogel! That was at Mala Mala, where we stayed for 3 nights. We also stayed 2 nights at Idube and 1 night at Umkumbe.
Very nice - sounds amazing! I just came back from Sabi Sand where we saw the aftermath of a similar situation - a female leopard was staring down a hyena that had just stolen her kill. I wasn't able to capture it in a compelling way, your photo story on the other hand does a fantastic job. It's easy to see hyenas as the villains of the bush
roadapple wrote:
Outstanding captured images in the wild, Joshua !!!! Beautiful leopard !!! (Voted)
Thank you very much 2X, Tom!
agvogel wrote:
Very nice - sounds amazing! I just came back from Sabi Sand where we saw the aftermath of a similar situation - a female leopard was staring down a hyena that had just stolen her kill. I wasn't able to capture it in a compelling way, your photo story on the other hand does a fantastic job. It's easy to see hyenas as the villains of the bush
Thank you again, agvogel! It sounds like we were in the approximately same neighborhood at roughly the same time. I was there between Sep 28 and Oct 4. Yes, hyenas are a curious bunch and they always check out what’s going on and trying to take advantage out of what’s going on.
tinamou7 wrote:
Wonderful images truly enjoyed them
Your leopard images are incredible Joshua, so rich in character. The Hyenas are vicious and aggressive! Excellent and thrilling set of images. Must have been exhilarating to be there and see this take place. Wow!
I could tell these were yours without even seeing the name. Great shots !
